them for quite a few--a number of years. c-span: where do they live? >> guest: they live in oakland, california, where nell grew up and mrs. irvin, who is an author herself, told me the story of the year she and her husband--several years, i'm sorry--spent in ghana. and this is one of those--those big things in african community, the sort of going back to africa. and, you know, just how emotional it was and how that changed them in their perception of america and africa. c-span: and nell painter was there with them, was with her parents. >> guest: nell joined them for a while, too, yes, yes. c-span: i know because we talked about that. >> guest: yes. c-span: and what did they--after being in africa, did they have any different conclusions than the other people you talked to about being black and in america? >> guest: well, i mean, i think they had a deeper appreciation for what the entire diaspora--diaspora means and that whole experience is. i mean, they, you know, realized that there were tremendous cultural differences between africa and america and so she--ms. painter and then m
